Area Female Athlete: Gindorff's efforts not measured in numbers for C-I

Abby Gindorff

Year: Senior

School: Crosby-Ironton

Sport: Basketball

Position: Center

Highlights: Finished with 24 points against Deer River and 14 points and nine rebounds against Staples-Motley

Abby Gindorff's largest contributions go mostly unseen.

But make no mistake the senior has been, and continues to be, a key ingredient to the Crosby-Ironton basketball team's progress.

The two-year starter and four-year varsity player is one of just two seniors on a roster that starts two freshmen. Her leadership has been invaluable, said C-I head coach Randy Swanhorst.

"She has always been an extremely good role model on and off the court," said Swanhorst. "We knew coming into the season what we were going to get from her. Really it's one of those deals where she means a lot more to our team than the stat line shows. Now she's starting to put some numbers along with everything else. We just wish we had her for another year."

Gindorff scored a career-high 24 points in the Rangers' 47-35 victory over Deer River Feb. 24. She led the Rangers with 14 points and nine rebounds during a 53-50 Mid-State Conference loss to Staples-Motley.

"Our guards were doing a good job of getting the ball inside and my other post, Jamie Nelson, was doing a good job of setting screens to get me open," said Gindorff. "I've been really working on my scoring ability and on my rebounding skills. We lost two really effective scorers from last year's team in Shannon Lundgren and Meridith Silgen. I knew there would be a lot of responsibility placed on me as a senior to step up and kind of fill the scoring column. I worked a lot on my post moves."

Gindorff's own progress has been hampered with injuries. Knee surgery and continued complications have made it hard for her to play during the offseason. Luck has been on her side for most of this season and Swanhorst believes Gindorff is finally feeling comfortable on the court.

Finding confidence in her scoring will be vital if C-I hopes to upset some teams in the Section 8-2A playoffs. The Rangers secured the No. 5 seed and open against No. 4 Park Rapids March 5.

"We lost our leading scorer coming back in Hallie Schmidt to an ACL she suffered in volleyball," said Swanhorst. "We didn't have anyone else coming back who averaged double figures. Losing Hallie in terms of our scoring was huge. The positive is that we knew we would have four or five kids who could go off on any given night. We've had different kids leading us in scoring every night. That part is good.

"Because of our lack of depth we've had to concentrate on defense and so points have been a premium for us. We've worked very hard and take a lot of pride in our defense and our one constant has been Abby. Yes, she had a big night against Deer River, but she's been steady all year."

Through 24 games, Gindorff has 193 points and 156 rebounds. She's added 56 blocked shots, 27 steals and 16 assists. She is shooting 41 percent from the field and 51 percent from the line.

Gindorff agrees her biggest role is that of leader.

"Really I just try to keep things positive," she said. "We are a young team and I try to encourage our players as much as I can. We have two freshmen starting on our team and we really have to be positive with them and encourage them. When they're confident in themselves they are really effective for our team. That's really important.

"It has been a fun year. We haven't won as many games as in years past, but the girls have been working hard and they love to compete and work hard every day. We've learned a lot and I think now we're starting to see our hard work pay off.

"We played well against a good Staples team and we played well again against Deer River. We're starting to click come playoff time hopefully."

Gindorff carries a 4.0 grade-point average. That's one of those stats Swanhorst says doesn't show up in box scores.

"You couldn't ask for a better individual to be a leader and role model for your team and your entire program. Abby does so many things for us that can't be measured in stats," he said.

Other notable performances:

Basketball: Grace Wolhowe, Staples-Motley, finished with 20 points against Crosby-Ironton.

Maggi Fellerman, Aitkin, scored 21 points against Rush City.

Kayla Carter, Pierz, finished with 21 points, six rebounds and two steals against Maple Lake.

Marlee Moore, Lake Region, finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two blocks against Rosemount.

Sarah Gold, Little Falls, scored 20 points against Mora.

Shania Glenz, Verndale, finished with 23 points against Browerville.

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .